Mac beachballs or lagging performance? AI photo scanning may be the reason

Some Mac users running macOS 26.5 are reporting system lag, beachballing cursors, and high battery drain, with the suspected cause being Apple Intelligence photo scanning processes running in the background. The issue appears to affect machines during periods of heavy photo library analysis, leading to degraded performance and increased power consumption.

Some users are experiencing beachballs or lagging performance on their Macs https://9to5mac.com/guides/mac/ on macOS 26.5 https://9to5mac.com/guides/macos-26-5/ , and it seems the culprit may be Apple Intelligence https://9to5mac.com/guides/apple-intelligence/ photo scanning in the background. High battery usage also appears to be an issue for some of those seeing these symptoms …